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an attempt to retain the Chinese heritage that she once held while developing her new identity in the United States . Language stems from necessity and attempting to tame language has proven difficult throughout history .
Consequently , in “ How to Tame a Wild Tongue ’’ by Gloria Anzaldua the painful psychological process that comes with promoting a standard form of English is highlighted . Anzaldua recalls being told , “‘ If you want to be American , speak ‘ American .’ If you don ’ t like it , go back to Mexico where you belong .’” Such experiences where teachers abuse the idea of the standard language to discriminate against an innocent student is why the entire idea of standard English should be eradicated . Anzaldua chooses to include this personal anecdote within her essay because it highlights the problem of “ linguistic terrorism ” which directly correlates with the problems , such as low standard education and little self- validation , that persist within communities that are dense in socioeconomic minority populations . Such forms of linguistic inequity are direct derivatives of the enforcing standard English because teachers are more focused on making a student “ accent-free ” rather than focusing on developing effective methods for students to communicate even with an accent .
Overall , the idea of the standard should be eradicated from classroom settings because teachers will be privy towards their bias against accents rather than promoting effectiveness using language . Linguistic inequity , as shown by history , is a large aspect of why the struggles of slavery existed . Europeans and their infected society have plagued many of society ’ s norms for centuries ; however , the future is in the control of present society , and the choices that we make today about how we see language and one ’ s culture will directly impact the way linguistic equity develops in the future . While the past may influence our present , our future will only take the
shape that we choose for it to take .
Nature reflects our nature
Paurakh Rijal Denver , Colorado
The Recipe for Racism
From the interviews and materials collected for the project work on “ Racial Discrimination between Madhesis and Pahadis ”, we found out that Nepal is actually facing serious racial discrimination . Sometimes its subtle and other times its systematic . As we dwell deeper we can see that the ingredients for a racist society is same .
In India , we see discrimination between Hindus and Muslims . In many other countries , we see disputes among natives and immigrants . The United States of America is still facing a serious problem due to skin color differences . Be it a poor country or a rich one , racism has infested them all . It seems racism exists everywhere . If so , then in what forms ? Are there any similarities in regard with the racism in Nepal ?
A society that mirrors the condition of madhesis in Nepal is the Bihari community of India . Often they are considered as daily wage earners doing menial labor . Their society is considered to be rooted in discrimination , superstitions , gender inequality , and corruption . They are mistreated by people from other communities and made to feel foreign and unfit in their own country . People have the belief that they are uneducated and don ’ t fit in the civilized society . A common insult “ Bihar se aaya hey kya ” is used if a person doesn ’ t act sophisticated enough for so-called higher class society . This insult where a person ’ s origin is targeted shows how unwelcoming people are to the Bihar community . To some extent , the same behavior is shown towards madhesis in Nepal . We all have heard of words such as “ Madishe ”, “ dhoti ” while addressing someone from Madhesh , the inner
42 Year Book of Environmental Science